Recess @ Old School

Being a blogger myself, I'm taking the summer course SOCIAL MEDIA AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATION ACROSS ASIA to see if I can apply my personal experiences to this course and vice versa. True enough, something happened that made me think about the culinary scene in Singapore and the (in)effective use of social media.

A few food bloggers and myself were recently invited to a high-end Indian restaurant for food tasting. I received 2 email and a phone invitation from the restaurant's public relations agency, which made me impressed by the restaurant and agency's efforts of using social media to promote the restaurant. However when I emailed back to ask if I could attend unannounced, so that there wouldn't be any fuss or special treatment and I would just be treated like a regular diner, the request apparently went into the e-Black Hole, otherwise known as Deleted Items.

Neither agency nor restaurant replied and that immediately sounded the alarms. The truth is if we are going to continue hiding in our comfort zone, the dining scene in Singapore will cease to be ever good as that of Hong Kong, Japan and New York (I can't vouch for other cities / countries).

Case in point, if any company wishes to engage in social media, do so preparing to give up control of your media narrative. If a less-than-flattering review surfaces, you have 2 choices: psychologically white-tape the poor review and continue to believe that the world is a wonderland filled with bohemians and this Crazy Little Ting Called Love, with unicorns leaping over rainbows OR regard it as constructive feedback and learn from it. Pretty soon the ol' way of doing things i.e. snazzy media invites and glorified food reviewers will lose their credibility among discerning diners. Bluntly said, you better get used to the fact you can't buy yourself a good review. If restaurants cannot take the heat, they should reconsider their venture.

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Now if we were graded for 'Recess,' I would have definitely scored A* for that subject. I would have saved my parents a bundle on tuition, assessment books and ten year series. Coming from someone who spent too much time in the canteen, who once landed herself in kiddy debts because she was only given a daily allowance of $1 but ate more than that, I think I can safely say I was a real recess trouper.

From Dhoby Gaut, I climbed up the steely flight of steps to get up to Mount Sophia. All 130 steps. Yeap I counted so that I could blog about it (although I might have missed a couple while catching my breath). GAW-, under the blistering heat, it sure felt as if I was training for the climb at Machu Picchu.

Diana and I had initially wanted to visit Bistro GaGa but it was -horror- closed. Lights out and peopleless. With little choice, we headed over to Recess, which was just across the street.



I have developed a thing for tortillas ever since we visited Paisley & Cream. Diana and I both had tortilla folds, she had the cheesy chicken while I took aim at the smoked black pepper duck. Before I forget, the staff at Recess seemed to have their service backwards. We were served ice water first, followed by our coasters and our tortilla folds before our cutlery. Fortunately we weren't given the bill before the meal.



Paired with tomatoes, cucumber and a slather of mayonnaise, the duck itself was delightfully plump with a rim of fat. Pity there was like a grand total of 5.5 tiny slices and the tortillas were served with a mindless toss of chips. It was tasty but nothing to go gaga about, compared to Paisley & Cream's wraps. More importantly, it wasn't worth climbing 130 steps, perspiring unglamorously and ruining my make up for.

In fact by the time we made our way down the 130 steps, I was hungry again.

Is Mount Sophia the new Dempsey?